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Pitchers and catchers kick off spring camp

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FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Twins hosted their first official workout of Spring Training on Wednesday, as pitchers and catchers participated in several drills on the first day of camp.

It began early in the morning with a catchers meeting with manager Ron Gardenhire before he addressed all of the players currently in camp for the first official team meeting. Gardenhire said he kept it simple, as he plans on going through a more structured meeting once the rest of the team reports on Friday, with the first full workout set for Saturday morning.

"Saturday will be the big day," Gardenhire said. "Basically, today was, 'Get out there, don't try to do anything silly and overextend yourself. No one is going to make a baseball team today. Go out there, go through the process, do your work. It's about being healthy.'"

After the meeting, the players broke up into different groups with 16 pitchers throwing bullpen sessions and the others playing catch. The hurlers also participated in pitchers fielding practice (PFP) drills and ran in the outfield at Hammond Stadium.

The nine catchers on the roster went over signs early in the morning with Gardenhire before catching bullpen sessions and taking batting practice later in the day.

"It's just nice to see everyone back on the field," Gardenhire said. "Guys moving around, they put forth a good effort. As far as pitchers doing their fundamentals and stuff, everything went really well. They listened and paid attention and were trying hard and had a nice time out there."